F.E. Smith

Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead (12 July 1872-30 September 1930) was Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1919 to 19 October 1922, succeeding Robert Finlay and preceding George Cave.

Biography
Frederick Edwin Smith was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England on 12 July 1872. He won a scholarship to Oxford, where he acquired a reputation as a brilliant speaker in the union. He studied law and became a lawyer in Liverpool, and he entered the Parliament in 1906 as a Conservative Party MP, making a dazzling maiden speech. He was hailed as a future Conservative leader, but he developed interests in legal posts during World War I, becoming Attorney-General in 1915 and Lord Chancellor in 1919. Smith was a close ally of David Lloyd George, supporting the Prime Minister's plans for southern Irish home rule. In the political wilderness after Lloyd George left office, he served as Secretary of State for India from 1924 to 1928 under Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, and he resisted constitutional reforms there. He retired from politics in 1928 and died two years later in London at the age of 58.